By Yekini Lukmon, YKL
07065313924
Nigeria was once widely recognised for the strength of its agricultural economy. Long before independence, agriculture was not merely an occupation; it was a way of life and the foundation upon which many communities built their economic and social existence.
In the pre-colonial era, households were actively involved in farming. Men, women and children participated in food production, livestock rearing and other agricultural activities. Although much of this farming was largely subsistence-based, it provided food and basic economic security for families and communities.
That culture did not disappear immediately after independence. Nigeria remained blessed with vast arable land, favourable climatic conditions and a population with considerable agricultural knowledge. The country produced food crops, cash crops and livestock in significant quantities and was an important agricultural player within Africa.
However, something gradually changed.
The discovery and growing importance of crude oil in Nigeria transformed the structure of the nation's economy. As oil revenues increased, agriculture progressively lost its dominant position in national economic planning. Nigeria moved from an economy significantly driven by agriculture towards one heavily dependent on petroleum revenue.
But blaming the decline of agriculture entirely on oil would be an incomplete explanation.
Nigeria's education system also played a significant role in disconnecting younger generations from agriculture.
WHEN THE FARM LEFT THE CLASSROOM
In traditional Nigerian society, agricultural knowledge was passed from one generation to another through practical experience. A farmer's children did not merely hear about farming; they participated in it. They learned how to cultivate crops, care for animals, understand seasons and appreciate the relationship between food production and survival.
Education changed this pattern.
As formal education expanded after independence, practical agricultural activities increasingly gave way to classroom-based learning. Academic achievement became closely associated with obtaining a white-collar job, while farming was gradually presented, directly or indirectly, as an occupation for people who had not succeeded academically.
That perception has been damaging.
A young Nigerian could spend years studying agriculture in school and still graduate without having meaningful practical experience of cultivating a plot of land, managing livestock, operating basic farm equipment or understanding the economics of agricultural production.
We have therefore produced generations who can define agriculture in examinations but may not know how to practise it effectively.
This is one of the contradictions that Nigeria must confront.
The problem is not simply that young people have lost interest in farming. The deeper problem is that we have failed to systematically expose them to agriculture as a productive, modern and respectable economic enterprise.
AGRICULTURE MUST BE MORE THAN A THEORY
There have been efforts by governments, educators and development organisations to introduce agricultural science, agribusiness, technology and entrepreneurship into schools. Agritech has also opened new possibilities through irrigation, mechanisation, improved seedlings, digital farming, greenhouse production and modern livestock management.
These initiatives are important.
But if Nigeria genuinely wants to rebuild its agricultural economy, agriculture must move beyond the textbook and return to the school field.
Every school should, where land and local conditions permit, have a designated agricultural area just as schools traditionally have football fields and other sporting facilities.
The school farm should not exist merely for inspection or decoration.
It should produce.
Pupils should plant crops, nurture them, observe their growth, harvest them and understand how to create market for them. Schools should also be encouraged, where appropriate, to introduce small-scale livestock projects such as poultry, fishery or other suitable animal husbandry activities.
The objective is not to turn every child into a professional farmer.
The objective is to ensure that every child understands food production, enterprise, environmental responsibility and the economic value of agriculture.
A child who grows vegetables in school today may become an agricultural entrepreneur tomorrow. Another may become a scientist developing improved crop varieties. Another may become an agricultural engineer, livestock specialist, food processor, agribusiness investor or technology entrepreneur.
The possibilities are enormous.
THE SCHOOL FARM CAN BUILD SELF-RELIANCE
Practical agricultural education can also provide young people with useful skills before they enter the labour market.
A graduate does not necessarily have to become an agricultural scientist before benefiting from agricultural knowledge acquired in school. Basic practical skills can become a foundation for self-employment, supplementary income and entrepreneurship.
This is particularly important in a country struggling with youth unemployment and the challenge of creating sufficient formal-sector jobs for its growing population.
The traditional mindset that agriculture is an occupation for school dropouts must be deliberately challenged.
Farming today can involve technology, finance, research, logistics, data, mechanisation, biotechnology, processing, packaging, marketing and international trade.
The farmer of the future should not be portrayed as someone who has failed in life. The farmer should be recognised as a producer, entrepreneur and contributor to national economic growth.
GOVERNMENT MUST PROVIDE THE POLICY SUPPORT
Curriculum reform alone will not solve the problem.
Government must create an enabling environment for practical agricultural education to succeed.
Schools need adequate land or suitable alternatives for agricultural projects. Teachers responsible for agricultural activities must be properly trained and supported. Agricultural tools, seedlings, livestock inputs and basic equipment should be made available where appropriate.
Most importantly, schools should not turn agriculture into punishment.
For too long, in some educational environments, farming and other manual activities have been used as disciplinary measures. That sends the wrong message to children.
Agriculture should be taught with the same dignity accorded to mathematics, science, technology, language and other major areas of learning.
A trained agricultural science teacher or suitably trained teacher should supervise practical agricultural activities, ensuring that students understand both the science and the business side of production.
FROM SCHOOL FARMS TO FOOD SECURITY
Teaching children the fundamentals of agriculture from an early age can help reconnect society with the source of its food.
A nation cannot permanently depend on imported food while claiming to have vast agricultural potential.
Food security should not be measured by speeches, slogans or declarations. It should be measured by production: how much food a country can produce for its population, how efficiently it can distribute that food, how much it can process and preserve, and what quantity it can competitively export.
If Nigeria wants to become a major food-producing nation, the foundation must begin with the younger generation.
The school farm may look small, but its long-term impact can be enormous.
A generation that grows up understanding agriculture will be less likely to regard farming as backward. It will see opportunities where previous generations saw only hardship.
SUPPORT THE FARMER, BUILD THE FUTURE
Government must also strengthen support for existing farmers and agricultural graduates.
Accessible financing, affordable mechanisation, improved seedlings, fertiliser, irrigation infrastructure, extension services, storage facilities and modern livestock support are essential components of a functional agricultural system.
Mechanised farming equipment, including tractors, should be made more accessible to genuine farmers through appropriate financing and cooperative arrangements.
Livestock farmers also require modern training in animal health, nutrition, breeding, housing and disease management.
Security in farming communities is equally critical. Farmers cannot be expected to invest confidently in production where insecurity threatens their lives, farms and livelihoods.
Nigeria must therefore approach agriculture as an entire ecosystem rather than simply telling young people to "go back to farming."
THE TIME TO CHANGE THE NARRATIVE IS NOW
Nigeria does not lack agricultural potential. What has been lacking is a sustained national system that connects agricultural potential with education, technology, investment and markets.
The classroom must become part of that solution.
If children are introduced to practical agriculture from primary school and continue through secondary education, the country can gradually develop a generation that understands farming not as punishment, not as a fallback option and not as an occupation for academic failures, but as a legitimate pathway to innovation, entrepreneurship and national development.
The agricultural revolution Nigeria needs may not begin with a massive tractor.
It may begin with a child planting a seed in a school farm.
That child must be taught that the seed represents more than food. It represents enterprise, dignity, self-reliance and the future of the nation.
Nigeria's return to agricultural prosperity therefore requires more than political speeches and seasonal campaigns. It requires a deliberate educational revolution. The one that takes agriculture from the pages of textbooks back to the soil.
If we want to secure Nigeria's food future, we must start by teaching the next generation how to produce it.
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